“I heard that Snapchat is going to be huge for businesses in 2014. We need to figure out how to use Snapchat.”

Why?

Why, why, why, why, why?

Maybe your company does need a Facebook Page. Pinterest IS one of the fastest growing social networks for business. Some marketers are saying that 2014 is the year that businesses will figure out how to promote their brands with Snapchat.

Please don’t take this shotgun approach.

Before you spend time and effort on creating a presence on any Social Media platform, first ask why?

Why do we need to be on Facebook?

Are our Ideal Customers using Pinterest?

Is Snapchat the best way to showcase our product?

I’m not picking on any of these platforms. I’m saying set goals; understand your objectives and focus on networks that make sense for you.

If you don’t align your objectives and social strategy what are you going to talk about?

If you don’t know who your target market is and where they are, where are you going to say it?

Your resources are limited. Everyone’s resources are limited. Pick something you’re good at; something that your firm can do at a high level; something that will let you stand out. Then, pick the platform where your content is best suited.

Are you good at photography? Is someone on your staff creative enough to tell a story in 15 second videos? Maybe Instagram is the platform where your business can excel.

Is creating targeted white papers your thing? Perhaps posting links to them on LinkedIn, or even creating a LinkedIn Group around your expertise is where you need to be.

The point is you need to start by picking one or two networks that you can do really well. Hopefully these are also networks where your Ideal Customers hang out. Chances are if you’re targeting the right prospects there will be a synergy between your strengths (the content you create and where you post it) and their interests (the networks where they hang out).

So I say start small and focus on creating high quality content in just a few places. Then spend your time building a community around it.

Remember, when I say content I mean:

Long-form Articles (Blog Posts)

Long-form Videos (YouTube, Vimeo)

Photography (Instagram, Pinterest)

Podcasts

Short-form Videos (Instagram, Vine)

Slide Shows (SlideShare)

Micro-blogging (Twitter, Tumblr)

Infographics

And the list goes on. Content can be anything that you create that is interesting, helpful and useful for your audience.

Question(s): Do you have a Social Media Strategy? What Social networks are you on? Where are your potential customers?